NEVER heard of this with nickle silver track. Is it defective or used?
Some 'Weathered' track has had an acid bath.
Remove it* where you want electrical contact - like rail tops, and ends where you connect rail joiners. * Dremel tool, file, or Brite Boy.
J. Daddy wrote:I have had the same problem, if it affects your loco's performance, cut this area out and replace with new track, sometimes the slip of a rail saw can cause a cut in the NS plating introducing rust and dirt to get into the rail over time... usually just dirt... if your affraid of the track rusting then you might want to check your humidity in your train room. Is anything else rusting that is steel in the room?
Are you saying the rails are only NS plated? Does this mean using any kind of abrasive will wear through the plating to expose plain steel rail??
J. Daddy wrote:Don't know the actual alloy that is below the plating but I do know the NS is a plating that if sanded off i.e.,bright boy, sand paper, rail saw, etc. the resultant metal below will oxidize and not conduct electricity as well as the original Nickle Silver. You just have to clean the track more frequently, or just cut it out and replace....the good news is we're not using brass track....
Wow. I do know that the rail I used to handlay track (ME) is the same alloy composition all the way through. I find it hard to believe that plated rail would be cheaper to produce in HO and N sizes. You should be able to tell when you trim the rails of flex track if it is plated.
My guess is that it is more likely that the nickel silver alloy used by Atlas's Chinese manufacturer has some impurities in spots that are causing the OP's problem. Don't see any easy fix if the spots are on the upper surface of the rail other than replacement. I'm pretty sure Atlas woould like to know of the problem, and make good on a replacement if it is indeed a manufacturing defect.
my 1 cent
Fred W
As much NS rail as I have drastically reshaped with mill files, I have never encountered any that was not consistent all the way through. That includes some Atlas, both Code 100 and Code 83. I have actually spoken to the people who supply rail to Shinohara, and they draw that rail from a uniform-composition alloy billet.
OTOH, if the Chinese quality control for Atlas rail is as consistent () as that of other Chinese-made products, it is entirely possible that steel shavings (from worn machinery?) somehow found their way into the final product. The solution? Replace the defective rail with a like serviceable section and keep on going.
The steel makers who supply rail to the prototype occasionally manage to roll a bit of mill scale into a 1:1 rail, which can have dire consequences if that rail fails under load. This is one of the defects that rail inspection cars are supposed to detect.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
mikesmowers wrote: Thanks all for the help, I guess what I have on the rail heads isn't rust but something elece that is stubborn. I will keep an eye on it to see if it wants to spread. Mike
Since you brought this topic up, I went and looked at mine. I'm seeing a few black spots here and there but it doesn't seem to be affecting anything. It's not near any solder joints. They come off with some fine sand paper.